Installation for one or more stacks

ABSTRACT

An installation for at least one stack in the form of a tubular chimney stack made of steel for example. The installation includes a trusswork tower and at least one stack extending alongside the tower at the exterior thereof. A means as provided for fixing the stack to the tower, and suitable stay cables can be operatively connected with the tower for staying the latter against lateral forces.

United States Patent Inventor Friedrich Wakonig Graz, Austria Appl. No.784,695 Filed Dec. 18, 1968 Patented Apr. 13, 1971 Assignee Waagner-BiroA. G.

Vienna, Austria Priority Dec. 19, 1967 Austria 11429/67 INSTALLATION FORONE OR MORE STACKS 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 52/ 148, 52/40, 52/296, 52/652 Int. Cl E04h 12/10 E04h 12/28Field of Search 52/ 146,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1918 Schroeder 9/ 1932 Ewing2/1933 Melvin 5/1934 Madden 9/ l 934 Zeiner 12/1936 Jenner FOREIGNPATENTS 12/1954 France 11/1957 Germany Primary Examiner-Henry C.Sutherland AttorneySteinberg and Blake ABSTRACT: An installation for atleast one stack in the form of a tubular chimney stack made of steel forexample. The installation includes a trusswork tower and at least onestack extending alongside the tower at the exterior thereof. A means asprovided for fixing the stack to the tower, and suitable stay cables canbe operatively connected with the tower for staying the latter againstlateral forces.

Patented April 13, 1971 3,574,982

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVI'JNIOIC. FRIEDRICH WAKONIG ATTUHNIIYS INSTALLATIONFOR ONE OR MORE STACKS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relatesto installations for one or more stacks in the form of tubular chimneysmade of steel, for example.

It is known to support such stacks, which are of substantially greatheight, in the interior of a supporting structure with the severalstacks, in the event that there are more than one, suspended from theirtop ends independently of each other.

Constructions of this latter type are of considerable disadvantage. Inthe first place they are complex and expensive. Moreover, when repairsare necessary, it is only possible to repair the stacks with operationswhich are extremely expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of thepresent invention to provide an installation which will avoid the abovedrawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide aninstallation capable of accommodating one or more stacks in such waythat the entire installation is far less costly than conventionalinstallations.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide an installationof this type which renders the stacks of the installation readilyaccessible so that repairs, when necessary, can be carried out in amanner which is far less expensive than has heretofore been possible.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a construction wherethe installation is protected to a very great degree against forces suchas lateral forces or torsion forces tending to twist the entireinstallation about its vertical, longitudinal axis.

With the installation of the inventionthere is a trusswork tower whichextends vertically, and at least one stack is situated at the exteriorof and extends alongside this tower. A means is provided for fixing thestack to the tower. With this arrangement the entire installation is ofextremely lightweight while at the same time each stack is freelyaccessible at the exterior of the tower.

With one embodiment of the invention the tower is supported at its lowerend by a support means which provides for the tower the possibility ofmoving freely in all directions, and this support means may take theform of a ball-and-socket joint, for example. Suitable stay cables areprovided for staying the tower against lateral forces in at least threedifferent directions. Moreover, in order to transfer to the foundationtorsion moments tending to twist or turn the tower about itslongitudinal axis, arms which are elongated and substantially rigid areconnected with the tower and with the foundation to transmit the torsionmoments thereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings which form part of this applicationand in which:

FIG. I is a schematic elevation of one possible embodiment of aninstallation according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view taken along line lI-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary schematic elevation of another embodiment of aninstallation according to the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the structure of FIG. 3 taken along line IV-IVof FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. I, theinstallation illustrated therein includes a trusswork tower l which isstayed by suitable guy wires or the like and which has at its comers thevertical beams 2 which extend parallel to each other in a verticaldirection. At the outside of the tower I are a plurality of stacks 3which are situated adjacent and extend alongside the tower I in avertical direction. A fixing means is provided for fixing each stack tothe tower I, and in the illustrated example this fixing means includesplatforms l2 horizontally surrounding the tower and supported thereon asby way of inclined bars or beams extending from the outenperiphery ofeach platform to the vertical beams 2 of the tower beneath eachplatform, as illustrated schematically in FIG. 1. Each stack 3 iscomposed of a plurality of sections which respectively extend throughopenings of the platforms 12, as shown most clearly in FIG. 2, and anysuitable means 15 may be provided for directly fixing each stack sectionto a platform I2. In fact, these connecting devices 15 may have aconstruction for adjusting the elevations of the stack sections withrespect to the platforms 12 while at the same time fixing the stacksections thereto in their adjusted positions.

As may be seen from FIG. I, the plurality of stack sections of eachstack 3 are respectively fixed at the region of their upper ends to theplatforms I2, so that the several stack sections are free to expanddownwardly. Moreover, between each pair of successive stack sectionsthere is a fluid-tight expansion joint 10 fluid-tightly connected withthe adjoining stack sections and permitting them to expand and contract.For example, the expansion joint means 10 may take the form of a bellowstype of structure.

A guide means is provided to guide each stack for vertical movement withrespect to the tower 1. In the illustrated example the guide means takesthe form of guide elements 13 carried by the tower and distributed alongeach stack 3, engaging the latter to guide the same for verticalmovement. For example, the guide means 13 may have a sliding engagementwith the stack or the stack may engage suitable rollers carried by theguide means I3.

The trusswork tower I is fixedly carried by a suitable foundation 14.Moreover, the tower is stayed in a number of different directions byguying means including suitable guy wires in the form of stay cables 4indicated in dot-dash lines in FIG. I. The distribution of the guy wiresor stay cables 4 about the tower is apparent from FIG. 2. It isapparent, therefore, that this staying structure opposes lateral forcesin at least three different directions.

The several stacks 3,.through which smoke or other waste gases aredirected are distributed about the tower 1, preferably in a symmetricalmanner. However, it is within the scope of the present invention tosituate more than a single stack along one side of the tower. Also, thetower itself, instead of being in the form of a trusswork, can take theform of a tubular structure of steel or concrete.

The section where FIG. 2 is taken is situated directly over a platformI2. As is apparent from FIG. 2 the particular tower of this embodimenthas a rectangular or s uare cross section. Thus, with this constructionthe cables 4 extend in four different directions from the tower, withthe latter being connected at different elevations to different seriesof four cables. In FIG. 1 it is apparent that one set of cables isconnected to the tower beneath the lower platform 12, while another setof cables is connected to the tower beneath the next higher platform.

In the particular example illustrated there are four stacks respectivelysituated at the four sides of the tower. However, such an arrangement,while preferred, is not absolutely essential. The trusswork tower can beof any suitable polygonal cross section having a number of corners whichis at least as great as the number of stacks.

Within the interior of the tower is situated a means 9 for facilitatingmovement by personnel up and down the tower. This means 9 may take theform of an elevator, stairs, or ladders. In the case of an elevator, thefoundation 14 forms a support for the power unit which drives theelevator in the interior of the tower.

With the embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in FIG. 3 theseveral steel stacks 3 are situated at the exterior of and extendalongside a tower l which in this case is in the form of a trussworksupported at its lower end by a support means which makes it possiblefor the tower to move in all directions.

' directions. Thus, with this construction not only can the tower tiltin all directions but also it can turn about its vertical axis.

The stacks 3 of FIG. 3 are fixed to the tower I, in particular at theplatforms [2 which surround the tower l, in the manner described abovein connection with FIGS. I and 2, so that j further description of thisconstruction is believed to be unnecessary. Also, the tower of FIG. 3 isstayed by suitable guy wires, stay cables, or the like in exactly thesame way as the embodiment of FIGS. I and 2, but this staying structurewhich stays the installation against lateral forces such assubstantially horizontal winds and the like is not illustrated in FIGS.3 and 4 in order to simplify the illustration of the structure therein.

When the installation of FIGS. 3 and 4 is subjected to a nonsymmetricalload or to the force of winds coming from certain directions, there is atendency for torsion moments to be created with the installation tendingto twist or turn about the vertical axis of the tower. In order toabsorb such torsion moments, the guying means includes a plurality ofelongated substantially rigid arms 7, in the form of robust elongatedbars, are operatively connected on the one hand to the tower I at theregion of the lower end-thereof and on the other hand to a foundationmeans 8 for transmitting the torsion moments to the foundation means.For this purpose the upper ends of the several arms 7 may be pivotallyconnected to the lower ends of the vertically extending beams at thecorners of the tower while the outer ends of the substantially rigidarms or beams 7 are guided for longitudinal movement in suitable guidesof the foundation elements 8. As is schematically indicated in FIGS. '3and 4, the lower ends of the rigid bars 7 extend into bores or passageswhich have axes respectively coinciding with those of the bars 7.Actually, the foundation elements 8 may carry rigid elements formed withinclined slots receiving the ends of through-bolts extendingtransversely through the bars 7 at the lower ends thereof, to guide thebars 7 only for longitudinal movement at the foundation elements 8 witha minimum of lateral play of the bars 7 in the guides of the foundationelements 8. Since the bars 7 are fixed to the lower ends of the verticalbeams at the comers of the tower 1 only for pivotal movement about asubstantially horizontal axis, without being capable of movinghorizontally or in any other direction with respect to the tower 1, anytendency of the tower to turn or twist about its longitudinal verticalaxis will be transmitted to the foundation means 8.

Instead of providing a means for fixing the stacks to the tower in thefomt of the platforms I2 it is also possible to use suitable bracketconstructions for supporting the stacks 3 as well as for accommodatingsafety devices for high structures, such as, for example, air-alarmfiring devices.

It will be noted from FIG. 4 that there are with this embodiment alsofour stacks 3 respectively situated at the four sides of the tower.However, such an arrangement is not essential and it is possible toprovide for the installation of the invention a number of towers whichis less than the number of comers of the tower.

As contrasted with known stack installations, where the stacks aresuspended within a supporting structure, the installation of the presentinvention has the primary advantage of rendering the several stackseasily accessible so that repairs can be carried out at relatively lowcost. A further important advantage of the invention also resides in thefact that there is a considerable difference between the weight of thestructure of the invention as contrasted with the weight of the knownconstructions. Thus, the structure of the present invention is farlighter than previously known installations.

It is to be noted that the embodiment of the invention which isillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 presents certain advantages over thatembodiment which is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thus,

with the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 it is an exceedingly simple matterto calculate the size and arrangement of the structure required tooppose the expected forces with a suitable safety factor, since thebehavior of the embodiment of FIG. 3 at the lower ball-and-socketsupport means 5, 6 is far less complex and lends itself to much easierdesign calculations than is the case with the embodiment of FIGS. 1

and 2 where the fixing of the tower in the foundation l4 results inexceedinglycomplex calculations. Moreover, since the tower of FIG. Iwill tend to bend with respect to the foundation 14 when subjected tolateral forces or the like while the tower of FIG. 3 will tend to tilt,the horizontal forces encountered with the embodiment of FIG. 3 at theball-andsocket support means 5, 6 are much less than those encounteredwith the construction of FIGS. 1 and 2. However, the foundation I4 doesprovide a convenient support for a power installation for driving anelevator up and down the interior of the tower, as pointed out above.

It is apparent from the above description that with the structure of theinvention a stack installation has provided a trusswork tower whichforms in and of itself a complete, upright, independent unit. At leastone stack, which is completely distinct from and forms no part of thetrusswork tower, is spaced from and extends alongside the toweroutwardly beyond the latter at the exterior thereof. A means, such asthe platforms described above, serves to connect each stack to the towerfor maintaining each stack in an upright position by connection thereofto the tower.

lclaim:

I. A stack installation comprising a foundation, a skeleton tower ofgenerally polygonal cross-sectional configuration disposed on andextending upwardly from said foundation, guying means operativelyconnected with said tower for holding the latter upright, at least oneconnecting means situated along said tower and spaced along the toweraxis above said foundation, said connecting means being secured to andprojecting laterally from the periphery of the tower, and at least onechimney stack spaced outwardly of the tower, said stack being offsetfrom the corners of the tower, said connecting means securing said stackto said tower.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said foundation has aball-and-socket supporting said tower for movement in all directions,said guying means comprising a plurality of elongated substantiallyrigid arms connected with and extending outwardly from said tower at theregion of the lower end thereof, said foundation having means coactingwith said arms to oppose any tendency of the tower to turn about itslongitudinal axis.

3. The combination of claim I and wherein there is within the tower ameans facilitating movement of personnel up the tower.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said tower has comers thenumber of which is at least as great as the number of stacks.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said stack is composed of aplurality of longitudinally extending sections situated one above theother, and said stack having a fluidtight expansion joint means situatedbetween and connected to said sections thereof, said connecting meansbeing operatively connected with said sections adjacent upper endsthereof, respectively, so that each stack section is free to expanddownwardly.

6. The combination of claim 1 andwherein said connecting means includesa platform carried by the tower and to which said stack is fixed.

7. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a guide means is carried bysaid tower and coacts with said stack to guide the latter for verticalmovement.

1. A stack installation comprising a foundation, a skeleton tower ofgenerally polygonal cross-sectional configuration disposed on andextending upwardly from said foundation, guying means operativelyconnected with said tower for holding the latter upright, at least oneconnecting means situated along said tower and spaced along the toweraxis above said foundation, said connecting means being secured to andprojecting laterally from the periphery of the tower, and at least onechimney stack spaced outwardly of the tower, said stack being offsetfrom the corners of the tower, said connecting means securing said stackto said tower.
 2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said foundationhas a ball-and-socket supporting said tower for movement in alldirections, said guying means comprising a plurality of elongatedsubstantially rigid arms connected with and extending outwardly fromsaid tower at the region of the lower end thereof, said foundationhaving means coacting with said arms to oppose any tendency of the towerto turn about its longitudinal axis.
 3. The combInation of claim 1 andwherein there is within the tower a means facilitating movement ofpersonnel up the tower.
 4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein saidtower has corners the number of which is at least as great as the numberof stacks.
 5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said stack iscomposed of a plurality of longitudinally extending sections situatedone above the other, and said stack having a fluid-tight expansion jointmeans situated between and connected to said sections thereof, saidconnecting means being operatively connected with said sections adjacentupper ends thereof, respectively, so that each stack section is free toexpand downwardly.
 6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein saidconnecting means includes a platform carried by the tower and to whichsaid stack is fixed.
 7. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a guidemeans is carried by said tower and coacts with said stack to guide thelatter for vertical movement.